Piston ring



n A. BOWERS f APIsToN RING lFiled May `51. 19:59

co-pending application Ser. No. 276,503, filed Patented Dec. 4, 1945 E UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE rrs'roN RING Thomas A. Bowers, Boston, Mass., asslgnor to Power Research Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 31, 1939, Serial No. 276,503

4 Claims. (Cl. 309-45) This invention relates to piston rings of theol] terial after portions thereof have been cut away metering type.- as illustrative of a step in the formation of During operation of a motor it is necessary that an oil ring.

a film of oil suitable for eiecting proper lubri- Fig. 3 is a perspective VieW illuStlabing another cation of sealing members be maintained on the 5 step inthe formation of an oil r1ng cylinder but it is desirable that no excess of oil F182 4 a VleW 1n S1de e1eVaf`/10n and partlal be left suneient to pass by the Sealing members cross sect1on illustrating still another vstep in the to become burned by combustion gases or to colfolrlatlol 0f an 011 ring.

lect in the head 0f the cylinder, thereby to re- Fig. 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5-5 duce engine eiliciency and create excess oil conof Fig- 4, sumphon. Difficulty is `experienced in fuifmihg Fi- 6 1S a plan vlew 0f a mshedpll n ng. these conditions especially in cylinders which Fig- 7 i a fragmentary PerSPeQr1Ve V1eW 0f a have been wom tammy or .out of round c nished rmg such as that shown in F1g. 6,(more type on rlngs as hitherto employed have been clearly indicating the arrangement of the ring beveled to present a single scraping edge, or reportjions, h cessed to present top and bottom scraping edges I ig. 8 1S a view in s1de elevat1 on illustratlng t e These rings fail to become completely expanded a ssociatlon.of scraper mpgs Wm? my fabna'ted against the worn areas of the cylinder referred ring mammal and also luustratmg a modlca' tion of the material; and

to, e1ther due to slowness in expansb1lity or non- 20 Fig 9 is a fragmentary View in cross section of uniformity 1n expansion pressure resulting from b the split construction of C-type rings, This rea cylmder and piston 1llustrat1ng a ring mem er sults in ineicient oil scraping. Also openings, as that mdlcated m Flg' 8 assoclated thereprovided through the oil rings for the oil to pass Ac'cording to my invention I provide length through and back mto Phe cran? case tend to of ribbon-like material I which preferably will pecome clogged' Inpreasmg the size of .the open" be composed of steel, alloy, or other` -suitable commgs .weakens the mpg body arid the :512e of the positions and from which I fabricate a unitary openmgs therefore 1s necessanl? limited' oil ring structure presenting oil scraping edges. In I gh'speeq motors' these dlmcultles become This material is sheet metal and when this term magmed and n an attempt to Overcfne 151.16m 3 is used throughout the specicahon and claims it Structures have .been prposed compnsmg hght is to be understood as referring to metal formed type scraper rmgshavmg a plurahtypf scrap' by rolling, drawing or like processing, as distinmg edges spaced apart by a' Slotted Sohd C'type guished from cast metal. Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive ring and maintained against the-Wunder Wall by relate to a preferred embodiment of the invenmeans of a Separate expander member 0f Strong' 35 tion. Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate an expander modily resilient character. Such assemblies while of lleatlom faster operation are still limited in expansibility AS an example of one means Offabricating an and their expansion is non-uniformen the cyloil ring structure from the material I, I treat the inder. In addltion they are much more expenslve material ln the manner illustrated ln pige 1 6 and more diflicult to assemble. 40

inclusive. The ribbon is punched or cut out with A prmclpal ObJecr 0f thls mventlon 1S t0 Pro' a die or other suitable member as illustrated in Vide an improved Oil ring and t0 Dwi/'ide Oil con' Fig. 2 Where it will be observed that there have trol means designed overcome the difficulties been formed portions 2 of somewhat narrow form, above outlined. The 1nvent1on also aims to preportions 3 of a substantially Wedge shape or keysent improved expander means. 45

stone formation havingy Wide edges 4 and narrow This apphcation 1s a contlnuatlon 1n part 0f edges 5, and slits 6 and 1 of which slits s are my co-pending application Ser. No. 268,721, illed longer than slits 1.

April 19, 1939. Reference iS further made t0 my The punched ribbon is then reversely bent up.. on itself so that the portions '2 take an upright May 31, 1939- position to comprise web members as illustrated In the accompanying draWIIlgI in Fig. 3, and the remaining portions 3 become Figure l 'is a perspective view illustrating a T-shaped at inner and outer sides to constitute length of material employed in making my fabcrown members as illustrated in Fig. 4. Where ricated oil control ring. the term crown is used in the specication and Fig. 2 is a planview indicating a length of ma- 55 claims it is to be understood as referring to the entire top or bottom plane portion of the device. It should be noted that the crowns 3 have portions extending beyond the webs in a direction circumferentially of the ring so that spaces occur between the webs for passing oil through the ring.

By means of the crown portions 3 having been formed with a keystone shape while slits 6 on one side of the material have been made longer than slits 'I of the opposite side, the material when folded may take an annular form and comprise a ring 8 such as has been illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7.

In a completely folded state the edges 4 of the crown portions 3 take positions adjacent one another and present substantially continuous relieved outer edges which are particularly adapted to acting as scraper rings for metering oil and comprising a satisfactory substitute for those separate scraper rings of the type above referred to.

l The web portions 2 take the place of a separate 'spacing member such as has been employed in the separate scraper ring assemblies referred to, and the webs from being constructed narrow relative to the crowns take up a position out of contact with the cylinder at all times. In addition since webs 2 are narrower than the crowns 3 they will tend to ex or bend before the crowns will and thereby may provide circumferential takeup and ensure maintenance of the crowns in a substantially fiat state at all times. The position assumed by the webs results in an open fabricated structure admirably suited to comprising oil passages with respect to oil passing either vertically or radially of the ring between the scraper portions for oil to be repassed through the piston and back to the crank case, and there is eliminated the need for carrying out expensive milling or other cutting operations to effect oil passages in solid spacing members as heretofore resorted to.

The ring of material illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7 presents a still further desirable characteristic especially in connection with taking the place of an expander in the separate scraper ring assembly above used for purposes of comparison. My improved ring furnishes its own expansibility, obviating the provision ,of a separate expansive expander member, and moreover my ring fur` nishes a superior type of expansibility.

The material, due to its being reversely folded and compacted may if composed of a suitably springy material, be highly expansible and contractible. When compressed into a closed circle it may exert a radial force, uniformly in all directions, adapted to deliver a very efficient Wall pressure when properly received in a cylinder. It should be noted that this Wall pressure is of wide range and is radially uniform when compared with a wall pressure which is obtained from a C-type ring which is of limited range and nenuniform, occurring with the greatest intensity at the ends of the split ring which tend to expand into a greater diameter. The greater expansibility thus available is highly useful in adapting the ring of my invention to use in cylinders badly worn out-of-round or worn in effecting a complete wiping or metering action in such cylinder at high speed.

In the ring 8 the crown portions 3 abut along points 9 as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. Upon expansion of rings of this type or with rings cut out so that they do not entirely abut there may occur gaps. the ring 8 to act as scraping edges on a cylinder,

such gaps might be considered as objectionable. However, it will be noted that I have arranged for these gaps to occur in staggered relationship so that a gap on one edge is covered by a solid edge at a correspondingly opposite point.y

It will be noted that the web members 2 may occur either in a substantially vertical position such as that already referred to and illustrated in Fig. 4, or they may occur in a slightly inclined position such as has been illustrated in Fig. 7 and to a greater extent in Fig. 8. The degree of angularity which the Webs may have may be determined by the depth of the cuts 6 and 1 and may be varied as desired with it being understood that the crown portions 3 may be spaced apart to any extent desired, whereby compressibility in a ring of the material would be increased.

In Fig. 8 I have illustrateda modification of the ring structure already described in which the inner edges 5 of the crowns have been upturned to form retaining ends I0 suitable for radially supporting separate scraping ring members Il which may be associated with this structure if desired; and I have illustrated an assembly in Fig. 9 of piston I2 and cylinder I3 having such a ring assembly associated therewith.

The material may be employed as a simple expander member either with or without the bending operation described in reference to Fig. 8, and it is again pointed out that in functioning as an expander the material exerts a radial forceoutwards which is uniform in all directions as compared wtih the non-uniform radial lexpansibility exerted by a C-type ring member.

It will also be observed that the ring comprises an open structure suitable for allowing easy passage of oil therethrough and' into drain openings in the piston of conventional nature, and there has been effected the preferred light scraping edge construction found to be more effective in high-speed motor operation and that both of tapered and In employing the outer edges 4 of these objectives have been obtained in a structure comprising a unitary member.

I claim:

1. A piston ring comprising a strip of sheet metal (reversely bent to form crowns and connecting webs, said crowns being I-shaped.

2. A piston ring comprising a corrugated strip ofsheet material in which the lines of folding extend radially of the ring, the structure comprising crowns and connecting webs, said crowns being I-shaped and extending beyond the webs, in a direction radially of the ring, at both the inner and outer peripheries of the ring, the heads .of said I-shaped portions being aligned at the outer periphery ofthe ring to define an oil scraping edge.

3. A packing ring formed from corrugated sheet material in which the lines of folding extend radially of the ring, the structure comprising crowns and connecting webs, the crowns comprising a plurality of I-shaped portions with-the heads thereof projecting beyond the webs at both the inner and the outer peripheries of the ring.

4. A packing ring comprising a strip of sheet metal reversely bent to form a corrugated structure in which the lines of folding extend radially of the ring, the structure including crowns and connecting webs, the crowns comprising rows of I-shaped portions at both the inner and outer peripheries of the ring, legs of said I-shaped portions being common to heads thereof at both inner and outer rows.

THOMAS A. BOWERS. 

